RAC Road Ready Game Camp

Being a game designer for a day

RAC Road Ready® recently held a free game camp for teens interested in learning the basics of making games.

The day was run by award-winning game designer, Dr. Kate Raynes-Goldie, who guided participants through the process of creating a game prototype that could help young people with road safety.

After a game of Gargoyles and a quick discussion on everyone’s favourite game, Dr. Kate moved onto game design and augmented reality, providing participants with an insight into her experience as a game designer and techniques that can be implemented on future game endeavours.

To get everyone creatively thinking and forming ideas, participants played a game of FutureDeck. A ‘what-if’ card game used as a brain-juggling innovation tool that lets you invent, and dream of future ideas without boundaries.

From here the budding game designers were full of ideas and ready to start designing. Dr. Kate presented on brainstorming, prototyping and playtesting to give attendees the tools and techniques to begin their prototyping.

Using what they had learnt, each group presented their incredible prototypes, explaining how the game would work, the way it would be implemented and how it would encourage teens to be safer on our roads.

The group’s ideas included a game built into a car to gamify the learning to drive process, a choose your own destiny comic book distributed to schools, and a 360° apocalyptic driving game that requires the player to watch out for pedestrians, cars and bikes whilst being confronted with common driver distractions including texting and social media push notifications.

Everyone was full of great ideas and all the concepts were a tribute to the talent and knowledge shared throughout the workshop.

Special thanks to Edith Cowan University for supplying the venue and to Dr Kate Raynes-Goldie for facilitating such an excellent day for our future game designers!

Don’t forget to keep an eye out for the eNews for future workshops. Not a member? Join now to receive the monthly RAC Road Ready eNews.